A taxonomy for medium access control protocols in wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks (Wsns) tend to be highly optimized due to severely restricted constraints. Various medium access control (Mac) protocols forWsns have been proposed, being specially tailored to a target application. This paper proposes a taxonomy for the different mechanisms employed in those protocols. The taxonomy characterizes the protocols according to the methods implemented to handle energy consumption, quality of service and adaptability requirements. We also present an overview of the transceptors found inWsns, identifying how events on communication affect the energy consumption. Based on the taxonomy, we classify existingMac protocols. Finally, we discuss challenging trends inMac protocols forWsns, such as security issues and software radios.